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Danger years for starting to drink as young as fourth grade; Study advises parents to talk to kids early about alcohol abuse
By: Beth Furtwangler I USA Today, November 6, 2007

If you wait until your children are in middle school to talk to them about the dangers of alcohol, you may be too late.

That’s the message being echoed this fall by educators and substance-abuse experts in the wake of a study released at the start of the school year in which 7% of fourth-graders said they’ve had an alcoholic drink in the past year.

Ten percent had more than a sip of alcohol in that time period, according to the study authored by John Donovan, an associate professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. It was published in the September issue of Prevention Science.